The Centre has approved the first tranche of projects worth ₹126 crore for tribal welfare last week. These include sanction of projects worth Rs 95 crore for construction of 768 additional classrooms, about ₹24 crore for renovation of 106 hostels of ashram schools and ₹7 crore for setting up of tribal multipurpose marketing centres, which function as dedicated aggregation and value-addition platforms for local artisans and gatherers to bypass middlemen and sell their minor forest produce (MFP) and handmade goods at fair prices.
ET had first reported in its May 8 edition that the Centre had written that the West Bengal government had not sent any proposals under two flagship programmes Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) and Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) since the launch of the programmes in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
Within 10 days of Suvendu Adhikari‘s swearing-in on May 9, West Bengal government sent proposals worth ₹200 crore under the central schemes. The state government sent proposals for construction of additional classrooms at residential schools, renovation of hostels of ashram schools, setting up of smart classes, multipurpose halls and centres of competence (hubs that focus specifically on research, management and prenatal diagnosis of Sickle Cell disease). According to sources, the proposals were received on May 19 and cleared within a fortnight on June 4.
The ministry has also pointed out to the state government that it had not signed an MoU with Centre’s National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS).
